1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an optical distortion device and more specifically to a mechanical apparatus for making a contact copy of a photographic film image with one dimension of the copy lengthened or shortened while the perpendicular dimension is unchanged.
2. Prior Art
Optical or photographic distortion devices are old and well known in the art and perhaps the best known of these involved the use of an anamorphic lens, that is a lens which has a different magnification of the image in each of two perpendicular directions. The cost of such lenses is prohibitive for many small businesses and they do not provide any flexibilities whatsoever. A different lens is required for each and every variation desired in the distortion process.
Other prior art photograhic distortion devices mount the negative and the photosensitive sheet in a pair of frames which are supported for rectilinear movement within an enclosure past a light slit. Most of these devices utilize an extremely complex linkage for obtaining the differential rate of movement between the two frames as they pass over the light slit.
Still another prior art arrangement utilizes a belt for moving a photosensitive sheet over the surface of a table by a pully arrangement. A conventional vairably transparent positive is positioned stationarily and planarily adjacent the photosensitive sheet between the sheet and a movable light housing. However, such an arrangement is extremely bulky and mechanically complex.